Garlic Roasted Lentils and Tomatoes

Lentils and tomatoes roasted with fresh minced garlic and olive oil and mixed with good quality balsamic vinegar and fresh herbs. This dish is delicious, easy to make, only uses 8 ingredients and can be made in less than an hour.

Simple Does Taste Best

Most often, the things that taste the best are the things that are the most simple in preparation. The simpler, the better too because that usually means less complication. You can literally let the quality ingredients do all the talking for you. That’s what I love about these Garlic Roasted Lentils and Tomatoes.

Only 9 simple ingredients. Keeping this dish as simple as possible to highlight the beautiful medley of garlic, dry and fresh herbs mixed with a good quality balsamic vinegar for some tang and mild sweet.

Hands off cooking. My favorite thing about this dish is that all the cooking is done in the oven. You just add the ingredients that need to be roasted and then stir to combine everything together.

Something everyone can enjoy. This dish is vegan, gluten-free and nut free. It pairs perfectly with pasta, quinoa, rice and additional veggies if desired.

Key Ingredients

• Cherry Tomatoes: These tomatoes are perfect as they have a more intense flavor to them. You can also use Campari tomatoes as well.
• Lentils: We are using small brown lentils. You can use other lentils like French lentils, black lentils or small green lentils as well. Make sure to cook until al dente.
• Garlic: Make sure your garlic is crushed well. I use a garlic press to to crush my garlic really fine to help it melt into the dish.
• Olive Oil: You can also use avocado oil or grapeseed oil if you prefer.
• Herbs: Dry basil and fresh dill. You can opt for additional herbs as desired, but these two made this dish taste best.
• Balsamic Vinegar: I highly recommend a good quality balsamic vinegar. Check the ingredients to see how they are listed. If the wine vinegar is listed first, it will likely be more acidic. You may want to balance it out with a little sweetener.
• Capers: Add a nice tang to this dish. Just mince up and add in at the end.

How to Roast Your Lentils and Tomatoes

Set your oven and to a baking dish add in your tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt then place in the oven to blister.

Once tomatoes start to burst open, you can remove them from the oven and to the dish add in your lentils, minced garlic, and basil, and stir well to combine. Place the baking dish back in the oven to start roasting the lentils and infuse in more flavor.

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After you remove the dish from the oven, top the lentils with the dill, capers, and balsamic vinegar and give the dish a nice toss. Finish some additional salt and pepper to taste then serve.

Tips for the Perfect Lentils and Tomatoes

• Don’t overcook the lentils. Make sure you cook them according to the package and test to make sure they are al dente. If there is extra liquid in the pot, just make sure to drain that away. I find using small lentil varieties tend to help prevent things from getting too mushy.
• Choose a good quality balsamic vinegar. This can make a big difference in flavor. If your balsamic tastes too tart and vinegary, you can reduce it down with a little sugar to help sweeten it up a bit.
• Before serving, make sure to give this dish a generous toss to make sure all the flavor is coating the lentils and tomatoes.

How to Serve Your Lentils and Tomatoes

This lentil dish will provide you a good amount of plant based protein and iron from the lentils as well as the antioxidant lycopene from the tomatoes. To help balance this dish even more, serve your lentils and tomatoes with any of the following for a complete meal:

• Serve with some starch. Try pasta, couscous, quinoa, or roasted sweet potato
• Don’t forget some greens. You can try sautéed spinach, grilled zucchini, or a simple side salad.
• Some spice. I personally love this with some extra red pepper flakes for a little extra heat.

More Lentil Recipes to Try

• Lentil and Tomato Macaroni Soup
• Latin Style Lentil Soup
• Garlic Chili Lentil Wraps
• Marinated Lentil Chickpea Salad

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★ Catherine